Priests Gather For Discussion On Immigration
Fathers Omar Tabing, Michael Chapman and Thomas McSherry listen to the presentation on
immigration at Catholic Charities. Photo Catholic Charities/ Connie Blaney.

By Ray Dyer
The Sooner Catholic

OKLAHOMA CITY — Shirley Cox is the director of Social Action for Catholic Charities of Oklahoma City. She’s blonde and fair skinned and she’s an attorney. She’s also an immigrant to the United States, moving here as a child with her parents from Great Britain.  Cox spends hours discussing all kinds of issues with lawmakers and on occasion with federal immigration officials. She can’t recall ever being asked for identification, and she’s certain she’s never been asked to produce any type of proof of citizenship. Margie Solis is the director of the Immigration Assistance Program for Catholic Charities; she’s also an attorney. Her clients are mostly poor people who have made their way to the United States in search of a better life.  Solis said it’s not uncommon for immigration officials to ask her for identification and proof of citizenship. Solis is Hispanic. She has dark hair, brown skin, and she was born in Texas. That’s the state that markets itself to tourists as “...a whole other country”. But it’s really not.

According to Cox, this scenario pretty well explains why the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, including Archbishop Eusebius Beltran of Oklahoma City and Bishop Edward J. Slattery of Tulsa, are calling for comprehensive immigration reform. They prefer a comprehensive approach rather than some of the proposed solutions offered at both the state and federal level that many believe are cloaked in racism.

Cox and Solis met with about 20 Oklahoma priests recently at the Oklahoma City office of Catholic Charities. The priests wanted information about the hotly debated illegal immigration issue. Many of them were busy taking notes as Cox and Solis offered facts, figures and views from the frontlines.

Some eyebrows in the room may have arched when Solis told about accompanying a fellow worker from Catholic Charities to the state Capitol, where they hoped to meet with a lawmaker.  She said the first question out of this legislator’s mouth upon meeting her co-worker, who also happened to be Hispanic, was “are you legal”?

Cox said there are a number of immigration myths that tend to stir up resentment towards those who are here illegally. One myth is that the undocumented utilize public benefits and drain state resources, she said. The truth is they are not eligible for most public benefits except for emergency medical assistance.  It’s federal law that no human being can be turned away from a hospital emergency room if they have a serious or life threatening condition.

“That’s because like most industrialized countries we don’t want people dying in our streets,” Cox said. She said one Oklahoma lawmaker is arguing the state spent $7.8 million on undocumented residents in 2005 under the Medicaid program administered by the Oklahoma Health Care Authority. In reality, the state was reimbursed for all but $2.3 million. The $2.3 million expenditure is less than 1/2 of 1 percent of the Oklahoma Health Care Authority’s budget. That’s hardly a figure that could be considered a drain on state resources, especially a state that is expected to have close to $1 billion in excess revenue this fiscal year.

 Even so, Solis said the heated debate is taking a human toll. She told of one illegal immigrant who declined medical treatment even though she has a lump in her breast.

“We found a free clinic that would accept her,” Solis said. But with all the debate and often heated and bitter public exchanges the woman changed her mind about visiting the clinic. “Her family said she was feeling better and she would be alright,” Solis said.

Cox called politics the motivation behind the flurry of immigration bills proposed this legislative session at the Oklahoma Capitol.  She said polls conducted on both sides of the political aisle indicated immigration could be a hot issue with voters. But what the polls failed to show and what politicians may not have counted on is the tremendous backlash from the ever-growing Hispanic community as well as from those who do not feel threatened by the emerging culture.

None of the proposed bills, described earlier this year as “harsh” by Catholic and Protestant leaders, have gained substantial legislative support. This may indicate the issue is more about sound bytes than substance. But Cox said it’s too early for Catholics who side with their Church leaders on this issue to drop their guard. “It’s not over until the legislative session is over,” she said.